Paranormal Erotica

by Various

  ‘Queen Elizabeth?’ I say, trying to laugh it off and wipe that look of thin-lipped sternness from her face. ‘That’s going back a bit! I thought the QAs only went back to Florence Nightingale’s time!’

  ‘There is no Selly Oak because it has closed now. I know this for a fact. You said your sister worked in Basra and then in Afghanistan. Well, so did mine. So, tell me what year your sister was there.’

  She still looks so ashen, I’m a little frightened of her now, but can’t bear the thought of what we had between us slipping away. I try to make sense of the jumble in my head.

  ‘She was in Basra right at the start of the war,’ I say, ‘on the Eastern Front against the Ottomans. Since she was already out there they transferred her to Afghanistan a few years later, against the Russians first, I think, until the war was over, and then after, during the fight for independence.’

  ‘So what year did she go out to Iraq, to Basra?’

  Her eyes are wild now, and I even see some flush in her cheeks, which scares me.

  ‘Well, it was Mesopotamia back then,’ I say, sounding unintentionally haughty now I’ve got the frights. ‘We’ve only just started calling it Iraq, haven’t we? It must have been in 1914, I suppose.’

  She falls silent for a while, biting her bottom lip, wrapping her arms tighter around her. Then slowly and quietly she says:

  ‘The hospital in Selly Oak closed in the year 2010, replaced by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. There has been a Sir John in charge of this estate every year since the eighteenth century, but the last Lady Eleanor to live here was killed in 1922, just over there in Ackerman Lane, after she was thrown from her horse.’

  I close my eyes to shut out her craziness, and when I open them again I am back amongst the clouds, where I can dream only of her perfect beauty once more.

  For One Night

  Torrance Sené

  Michaela stared out through the darkening window, arms crossed over her stomach, while thoughts busied themselves with memories. Two years had passed since her life had been taken from her, replaced with the liminal existence of a werewolf. Her college career had been put on hold. Visiting her family was absolutely out of the question; she just couldn’t risk putting them in danger. Not when the person who made her this way was still at large. The only thing she had now was this pack … and a job at a used-book store. She felt in limbo, useless, stagnant.

  Pushing aside the negativity, she took a deep breath and her nose caught a scent in the heated air. Sandalwood tinged with fur wafted into the room, alerting her to his presence before she heard him approach: Erik Matthiesen, the alpha of the Amherst pack. The woodsy smell of him had become comforting over the years; her wolf recognised him now as family, as pack, while her human side accepted him as a friend and mentor – if not something more.

  Erik rounded the corner and entered the study, one hand clasping a mobile phone to his ear and the other running absentmindedly through his mess of blond curls. ‘Right, well, gather the others and tell them to be ready by first light. And Drew –’ he let out a relieved sigh ‘– thanks. I owe you for this.’ He ended the call and slipped the mobile back into the rear pocket of his jeans before his gaze came to rest on Michaela. ‘You’re still here?’

  She turned to face him, arms still crossed, noting how that had come out more like a surprised statement than a question. ‘Would you rather I had left?’

  ‘No.’ He walked over to the French doors to stand beside her, wrapping his arms across his broad chest as he leaned against the door jamb. ‘I just didn’t expect the call to go on for so long. Figured you would have gotten frustrated and took off.’

  ‘Is that really the reputation I’ve gotten around here?’ she laughed nervously, her blue eyes locking on his.

  He smiled and chortled. ‘The one wolf who fails to fall in line? Yes. Yes, you do.’

  It was true. Erik had always allowed Michaela to get away with more insubordination than any other wolf in the pack. Her current extended eye contact being testament to that. Most of the other pack members accepted his stance as an alpha, with the prerogative of running run the pack as he saw fit, but there were still a few who disliked how he permitted Michaela to be. Such as Susie, who saw her as competition for Erik’s affection – though neither Erik nor Michaela had crossed the boundaries of friendship, even though they both wanted to.

  The only time they had even come close to something that wasn’t entirely platonic was the morning after Michaela’s first shift. When in Harper’s Wood that night, Erik had stayed alone with Michaela to ensure she remained undaunted at witnessing the entire pack shifting at once. As he was helping to cover her against the chill of the next morning, the tension between them cracked and Erik nearly kissed her, but decided against it when he remembered her attack. Since then both had ignored what almost was, carrying on so nothing would disrupt their friendship or the pack.

  ‘I have also heard rumours that you are rather restless, tenacious and impatient,’ he continued with a smirk. ‘Any truth in that, Miss Hart?’

  She diverted her gaze, ignoring his playful teasing. ‘I’ve never really been one to fall in line, Erik. Why would being a werewolf change that?’ Her fingers played with the peeling grey-blue paint on the window pane, and she watched a solitary flake fall to the dark hardwood floor.

  ‘Because it’s our nature, Michaela,’ he replied, his tone becoming more sober.

  Her eyes returned to his. ‘It’s not yours.’

  She knew all this, of course, but she enjoyed his company, and the soft accented timbre of his voice, too much to leave just yet and so continued her quest to delay the inevitable.

  ‘I’m the alpha and therefore the exception,’ he answered, matter-of-fact but kind.

  Michaela watched as his face changed, his bright blue eyes suddenly looking very far away, as if he was recalling a somewhat unpleasant memory. Something tugged within her, an urge to comfort him, but she knew she couldn’t. If anyone spied them through the doors’ windows it would make him look weak, even unfit to lead, in the eyes of the pack if he allowed a pup to console him. That’s what Michaela was, after all, compared to some of the others: a pup, a whelp that needed to learn her place.

  Erik continued, coming back to the present. ‘But I used to be in your position and I struggled with it as well.’

  This much Michaela had assumed. However, his history was still a mystery to her, existing mainly in pack stories, most of which were conflicting. She had no idea what to believe.

  ‘How’d you deal? I mean –’ she chewed on her bottom lip ‘– what changed things?’

  He let out a sigh as he removed his forest-green canvas jacket and tossed it across a nearby chair. ‘I really don’t think this is a topic for right now.’ His fingers found the buttons on his cuffs and he proceeded to roll up his sleeves. ‘I have far too much on my mind.’

  ‘Well. Since you won’t open up to me … why’d you call me here then?’ she asked, turning away from the window and following him with her eyes to his desk.

  His head snapped up at her rejoinder, his voice firm. ‘Careful, Michaela.’

  She sighed. ‘Sorry.’ She stepped closer. ‘This is all still new and I have trouble blending it with who I am. Not to mention that I find it completely and utterly frustrating. I don’t handle rank well, obviously.’

  ‘I know. Here.’ His voice was soft again as he held out a manila folder and took a seat on the edge of the desk. ‘This is why I called you here.’

  Michaela reached out and took the folder from him, opened it and flipped through its contents. Her eyes widened as she took a seat beside her pack master. ‘Y-You’ve found him.’ Her eyes darted to Erik, her words coming out in short, agitated breaths. ‘When? How? Where?’

  ‘Slow down. Take a breath.’ He placed a hand on her thigh, only to remove it when he realised the intimacy of the gesture. ‘We located him earlier today,’ he continued. ‘Drew and the guys found him squatting in an abandoned warehou
se just outside Boston.’

  ‘What’s next then? Where do we go from here?’ She tried hard to breathe steadily.

  ‘We are leaving at first light to intercept him.’ He ran his hand through his hair, a habit Michaela had come to notice he did when stressed. ‘We’ll finally put an end to this and you can stop looking over your shoulder.’

  Finally, thought Michaela as she looked at the bookshelves on the far side of the room, but it refused to fully sink in. She had never thought this day would come. Even before she was released from the hospital, Erik had a team searching for her attacker, Marcus Bartlett, a rogue from his pack. However, they had been searching for him for two years with barely any leads, and each day Michaela worried he’d come back, either to try to wiggle his way back into the pack or, worse, to claim her.

  Until now.

  Now she could breathe with a little more ease. But that relief didn’t cool her anger at the entire situation. Any calm his presence had brought was swiftly raked aside as her restlessness reared its head.

  ‘You are fooling yourself if you think I’m staying here while you and the boys play fetch.’ She closed the folder and tossed it on to the desk, standing and staring him down. ‘I’m not staying behind, Erik. This is my fight as much as yours.’

  ‘No, Michaela,’ he replied, trying to ignore her stance as he also stood, his height towering over her petite 5’4” frame. ‘You are still too young for something like this.’

  ‘The hell I am!’ She thumped her fist on the desk, then turned and began walking off towards the hallway.

  He followed closely behind her. ‘Just where the hell are you going?’

  She stopped at the doorway and turned, her jaw tight. ‘Disagree all you want, Erik. Order me around. Play your card as –’ she brought her hands up to make patronising quotation marks in the air ‘– “The Alpha”. I don’t particularly give a fuck. I still have every intention of going to Boston.’

  As soon as the words escaped her lips, Michaela knew she had struck a nerve. Erik growled and his hand circled her throat, forcing her against the farther wall of the hallway. ‘When are you going to learn to do as I say, hmm? My orders are not empty words, Michaela. I give them with good reason.’ He was centimetres away and she could feel the hot breath of his words, see the lust he’d kept hidden darkening his now golden eyes.

  Michaela was stunned. She clung to his forearm and wrist as he held her virtually immobile. She’d never had someone treat her like that. After all she had been through, it should have unnerved her, but instead she was surprised by the way her body was reacting to it. Her skin felt aflame and warmth spread between her thighs. She tried to push it away, continuing with her argument, spitting words of anger and hurt at him. ‘Marcus is the reason I am this way. He took my life from me. Do you truly expect me to just roll over and take my lot like a good little bitch?’

  She watched as a wave of guilt washed over Erik’s features, masking his hunger. ‘No.’ His hand fell from her neck. ‘I’m the reason you are this way.’

  ‘What?’ Her brow furrowed as she released his arm. ‘How is this possibly your fault?’

  He lowered his arm to his side. ‘Because I didn’t stand up sooner to my father and claim the pack before he became careless. My failure to act promptly allowed time for Marcus to go rogue. It allowed time for him to attack someone.’ His eyes locked on hers. ‘To attack you.’

  ‘Erik.’ Now out of the view of the window, she took a chance and reached for him, her palm coming to rest on his chest. ‘You had no way of knowing that would happen.’ She offered him a warm, reassuring smile. ‘I could have died, but I didn’t. I could have suffered through all this alone, but I didn’t. You took me in, Erik, and taught me to accept what I am now.’

  He scoffed. ‘What sort of alpha would I be if I didn’t?’

  ‘Is that all this is?’ She stepped closer, her body stopping mere inches from his. ‘You doing your duty as pack master?’ She looked into his fading gilt eyes. ‘It didn’t feel that way a moment ago.’

  Lust found his features again as his hand clasped hers on his chest. ‘Did you like the way it felt to be rendered helpless by me?’ He slid her hand down his stomach until her palm rested on his crotch. ‘I did. And don’t lie, I know you enjoyed it.’ He leaned to her ear, whispering. ‘I can smell your arousal.’

  Michaela shrugged, her nipples hardening at his candour and proximity. ‘Maybe there’s a little submissive in me after all,’ she whispered back, stroking him through his jeans.

  A low, growling moan escaped his throat at her touch and words. ‘Let’s find out.’

  Erik took her mouth with his and walked her backwards through the bedroom door, his hands smoothing her back. Without breaking the kiss, Michaela unbuttoned his white shirt, slipped it off his lean muscles and tossed it to the floor. Erik’s hands found her top button. Michaela stood there admiring the hollow of his collarbone and the breadth of his bare shoulders as his long fingers unfastened her ecru blouse. His palms smoothed across her clavicles and shoulders as he pushed it down and discarded it on the floor.

  Then he knelt in front of her, removed her boots and unbuttoned her jeans. Michaela ran her fingers through his curls, prompting Erik to look up at her as he slid the navy denim down her pale legs, leaving her in only undergarments. He stood, pulled her close and took her mouth again, his tongue slipping past her lips.

  ‘Lie on the bed, Michaela,’ he murmured against her mouth.

  Without hesitation she sat, scooted back until the crooks of her knees cupped the mattress, and lay back. Erik stood in front of her, towering and looking down at her soft, pleasing curves. Michaela suddenly felt exposed and she crossed her arms over her stomach to try and conceal the silver-pink scars received from claws. She hadn’t been with anyone since her attack; she felt too ashamed and unsightly after what Marcus had done to her body, and Erik’s attentiveness made her self-conscious.

  ‘Don’t cover up. Don’t think about anything but us. Forget Marcus. Forget what he did to you. Tonight you are mine and I want you fully in this moment. Is that clear?’

  Michaela nodded, reluctantly moved her hands and placed them above her head as a faint blush rose on her chest and face. Erik bent down and placed his hands on the bed each side of her. Putting his mouth close to her ear, he murmured, ‘I see nothing wrong with the woman before me. You are beautiful, Michaela. The scars take none of that away.’

  His lips and nose grazed hers, denying her his kiss as she tilted her chin up to him. Instead his mouth landed on her collarbone and placed soft kisses there before licking up the length of her neck and kissing her jawline. Michaela sighed, wanting to touch him, to feel the heat of his skin against hers, but she couldn’t. She wanted to show him she could submit – if not in the pack then at least here alone with him.

  Without removing his lips from her, Erik unfastened the front of her bra and trailed down between her breasts. Michaela’s back arched when he took a taut nipple in his mouth on his journey south, stopping just below her navel. Erik knelt at the foot of the bed, grasped the sides of her panties, pulled them down and dropped them on the floor. Then he spread her legs open. Michaela yelped a little when his arms slid under her thighs, wrapped around them and pulled her to the edge of the bed.

  Erik’s cock twitched as he took in her scent, and he wasted no time in flattening his tongue over her slit and bringing it up. A moan escaped her throat. His hand came around her thigh and spread her further open, revealing her swollen clit, which he proceeded to flick with his tongue. Michaela’s hands gripped the duvet as he circled, licked and drove her mad. Moans soon turned into whimpers and gasps, and her hips canted towards him as she neared. Erik opened his mouth and placed it on her opening, wanting her to come against him. Her hips rolled as she came, his tongue taking in all she had to give.

  He placed a kiss just below her navel and then slid up to take her mouth. Their tongues wrapped around each other. His hand slipped under her
and pressed her breasts into his chest as he sat her up. Then he stood before her. Michaela looked up at him and bit her lip as he stroked her cheek, smiling.

  ‘A little submission suits you.’

  She removed her bra, grinned and tongued his navel, as her hands undid his belt and jeans and pushed them down to the floor. She kissed down his stomach until she came to the dark trimmed curls framing his semi-hard cock. She placed feather-light kisses along its length, every so often pressing the heat of her open mouth against its girth and leaning up to lick the soft flesh just below his navel. Venturing back down, she ran her tongue up his hardening length, her eyes never leaving his.

  Erik let out a groan when her lips closed in a wet kiss over the head and her tongue continued licking. Taking him in one hand, Michaela wrapped her lips around him, enveloping him with her hot mouth. Erik’s hands ran through her tawny hair and rested gently on her nape as she bobbed, taking him deep, eliciting a groan from him. Locking her eyes on his again, she stroked him as her tongue flicked along the tip.

  ‘Stop,’ he ordered suddenly.

  She obeyed immediately. He pushed her back on the bed, removed his shoes and the jeans around his ankles, then crawled onto the mattress with the look of a predator. She scooted back and he began sucking her breasts as she whimpered, smiling up as he looked down at her from all fours, tucked between her opened legs.

  Once again he took her mouth with his. One of Michaela’s hands rested above her head while the other traced soft circles above his knee. They rocked their hips together, and she coated his cock with her wetness as it glided over her slit. Erik slid an arm under her head, bringing his body closer to hers, and with the other cupped a breast. He pinched and rolled the taut peak between his fingers. The same hand then slithered down her side and over her abdomen until it came to her opening. Slowly he pushed two fingers in, exacting a moan as he stared into her eyes. Michaela bucked her hips, urging him further. His fingers curled upwards, stroking her from within. She whimpered when he removed them and brought them up to her mouth but greedily licked herself from them.